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COMMUNICATIONS. 



BREAKING PRAIRIE. 

 Fkom J. Milton May, Esq., Janesville. 



The work of Breaking Prairie is very justly considered of the first importance 

 by the settler in a Prairie country. Indeed it is not uncommon to find a quarter 

 or a half section of land, broken and sown with fall or winter wheat, \Aliich has 

 attained a thrifty growth before it is enclosed. 



Necessity, and a prudent forecast on the part of the pioneer, indicate the im- 

 portance of growing a crop as early as possible, for with his grounds broken and 

 sown, the long winter will afford ample time to procure his fencing materials, 

 even though his timbered land is a half dozen of miles distant from the farm he 

 is making; and the following season finds a field well enclosed, with the appear- 

 ance of having been under cultivation a half century. 



In the early settlements of the prairie country the obstacles in the way of 

 rapidly and easily breaking prairie were somewhat numerous and formidable. 

 Some of the principal ones may be mentioned in this connexion : — First, the 

 tenacity and strength of the prairie sward, arising from the ten thousand wire-like 

 fibrous roots, interlaced and interwoven in every conceivable manner. — Second, 

 the red root, so called. This is a large bulbous mass of wood or root, gnarled 

 and hard, very much resembling cherry timber in color and density. When in a 

 live state, it sends up annually a twig or shoot similar to the willow, which is 

 destroyed by the prairie fires, so that no tree or shrub is formed, while the root 

 continues to grow, and attains a diameter of six, eight, and sometimes twelve 

 inches. These roots are found usually in a given neighborhood, while other and 

 large sections of country are entirely fi'ce from them. — Thii-d, in locations where 

 adjacent improvements prescribe limits to the annual burning of the prairie and 

 in the neighborhood of the groves, hazel bushes spring up, forming a thicket 

 which are called " hazel roughs" by those who br^-ak prairie. 



